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Even The Justice Department Is Mishandling Sexual Harassment, Report Finds

posted Jun 5, 2017, 2:30 PM by Resty Manapat

Lawyers in the civil division who reportedly stalked and
groped female colleagues got off pretty easy — even getting awards for their
performance.

Even the Justice Department is failing to enforce
anti-sexual harassment policies, reveals a new report by the DOJ’s internal
watchdog, which investigated the agency’s civil division.

Despite having a so-called “zero tolerance” policy for
sexual misconduct, the civil division failed to appropriately discipline
lawyers for egregious behavior ― including a male lawyer who secretly watched
his colleagues while they pumped breast milk, one who stalked a woman
co-worker, and another senior lawyer who physically groped his colleagues at an
office happy hour, the report finds.

The department declined to suspend the man, who grabbed
the breasts and buttocks of two female trial lawyers, because that “would
unnecessarily deprive the government of [the senior official’s] litigating
services,” the department official who made the decision told the Justice
Department’s Inspector General.

All of these men later received awards for their good
performance in the division, the report notes.

Problems with handling sexual misconduct, including lax
enforcement and tracking, likely extend to the entire Justice Department,
Inspector General Michael Horowitz wrote in a separate memo to Deputy Attorney
General Rod Rosenstein. He recommends the DOJ come up with more consistent
enforcement policies around sexual harassment ― at the very least prohibiting
rewarding sexual harassers ― and is asking the department for a response within
the next 60 days.

The investigation of the civil division, released Thursday,
examined about a dozen sexual harassment and misconduct claims reported between
2011 and the first half of 2016, at the department’s civil division, which
employs 1,400 workers, mostly lawyers, who handle lawsuits filed against, and
on behalf of, the federal government. During that period, the Justice
Department was headed by former Attorney General Eric Holder and then later by
Loretta Lynch.

Though relatively few harassment cases were reported in
the civil division ― the report looked at nine claims and found two more that
went unreported ― they were handled badly and tracked poorly, the investigation
reveals.

A couple of years ago, the office of the Inspector
General also turned up sexual misconduct at the Drug Enforcement
Administration, another department under the DOJ’s umbrella. That report
detailed drug-cartel funded sex-parties with prostitutes attended by DEA
agents, none of whom were fired. Some were even promoted. After the conduct
came to light, however, the head of the DEA ultimately resigned, facing
bipartisan criticism ― the misconduct went back to the years of former
President George W. Bush.

Thursday’s report offers a rare detailed glimpse into how
organizations can fail to properly deal with sexual harassment claims, an issue
that’s gained increasing attention after well-publicized incidents inside Fox
News, at the ride-hailing company Uber and, of course, involving President Donald
Trump have come to light over the past few years.

Trump was accused of harassing more than a dozen women,
and he even was caught on tape bragging about sexual misconduct. He faced no
consequences.

The senior civil division lawyer also got off fairly easily.
The lawyer, a supervisor, had been reprimanded before for sending sexually
tinged emails to co-workers.

After an internal investigation confirmed the harassment
occurred, he was given a written reprimand, and his supervisory duties were
stripped away. He was then transferred to another office, where no one was told
about his track record. His pay didn’t change.

And although his conduct may have been criminal, the
report notes, officials in the department did not refer the case to outside law
enforcement.

The case “demonstrates an inadequate appreciation by the
civil division of the Department’s zero tolerance policy,” write the report’s
authors.

In an addendum to the investigation, the civil division
acknowledged that it had a problem handling sexual misconduct and says that it
has resolved its issues with handling sexual harassment by hiring someone who
specializes in employee relations. It added it was improving the methods it
uses for tracking sexual harassment claims and clarifying its policies and its
disciplinary procedures to workers.

The DOJ “strives to maintain a culture free of harassment
and other misconduct for all of our 115,000 employees,” Deputy Attorney General
Rosenstein said in a statement in response to the report.

“It is fortunate that there are relatively few
substantiated incidents of sexual harassment, but even one incident is too
many,” he added. “We will review the Inspector General’s recommendations and
consider whether additional guidance is required to ensure that all misconduct
allegations are handled appropriately, in support of our goal of a workplace in
which everyone is treated fairly.”

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